


this is your starting line

by kay_emm_gee



Series: the kids aren't alright (The 100 tumblr prompts) [25]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drabble, F/M, Happy Ending, Tumblr Prompt, from 2x09ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 07:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4051258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_emm_gee/pseuds/kay_emm_gee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Bellarke + "H-how long have you been standing there?"</p>
<p>Summary: Clarke is leaving, and Bellamy can't let that happen, not after all they've been through. </p>
<p>A/N: This is a follow-up to my other fic "Overheard", as requested by many.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this is your starting line

For a while now, the shadowed kitchen had been silent, and Bellamy almost let himself believe that she wasn’t coming. The minutes had ticked by, and the quietness had grown heavy around him, suffocating. Maybe he had guessed wrong; maybe she wouldn’t come here.

Clarke wasn’t stupid though. She would need food, if she was leaving.

_Leaving._  The word stuck in his throat.

Before it could choke him, though, the metal door creaked open, and a familiar blonde figure slipped inside. She had her war jacket on, and a bag slung over her shoulder, confirming Bellamy’s worst fears.

_It was true. She was leaving, then._

Octavia had warned him that a reckoning was coming, had practically begged him to talk to Clarke. He hadn’t listened, too stuck on his own damn pride, and now it might be too late.

The muscles in his arms tensed in anger as he watched her set the half-full pack on the nearest counter before turning to the boxes of rations set aside for hunting trips and diplomatic missions. She grabbed a few—too few in his opinion, but Clarke had never been selfish, even if that hadn’t been his temporary opinion as of late.

Bellamy watched stonily as she stowed the rations in her pack, grabbing an empty canteen on her way back over and storing that as well. As she tied the pack closed, he stepped forward, taking great care that his boots didn’t make the metal floor under him creak. He folded his arms over his chest as she adjusted the bag on her back, settling his face into a blank expression just as she turned around to make for the exit.

“Bellamy!” She shrieked, stumbling back a few paces. With a hand pressed to her chest, she sucked in a large breath, clearly startled. “What are you doing?”

“I think the better question is what are  _you_  doing.” Her eyes widened as his bitter tone, which, if he was being honest, he hadn’t even tried all that hard to keep neutral in the first place. He took a step forward, staring at her, daring her to tell him the truth.

“H-how long have you been standing there?” She stuttered out, watching his advancing movements carefully.

“Long enough to think you wouldn’t come here tonight, either because you wised up and decided not to leave, or because you couldn’t even stay long enough to be smart and take some food with you before you went. And by the way, the next time you plan on leaving camp for an undetermined amount of time, you better fucking take more rations than that. That’ll last you two days, max. You’re not stupid, so don’t act like it.”

Her gaze narrowed at his insult, and her hand flexed at her side, clenching into a fist twice as her jaw flexed in annoyance. “This is none of your business, and you don’t get to tell me what to do, especially after not speaking to me for all these weeks. Now get out of my way.”

Somehow, they had both moved so she was suddenly a hair away from him, head titled up and eyes cold as she glared at him. Bellamy waited for his own fury to rise in response, preparing to harness it and use it to match hers, blow for blow.

Instead, an aching sadness washed through him as he stared at this hard face of a girl who had once smiled so easily. His hands rose of their own accord, dancing hesitantly by her arms. At first she jerked away at the first brush of his unsure fingers, but he clutched her elbows, very gently—a request, not a command—that she remain where she was, close to him.

“I need you,” he announced, hurried and quietly. Bellamy felt her tense at the words, but her expression softened just a bit as well, telling him that she would at least hear him out.

“I need you,” he repeated, slower, more sure this time. “Please, stay.”

“Bellamy—”

He winced at the uneasiness in her voice, immediately dropping his hands and stepping away from her. Clarke never broke eye contact though, and he could see a million thoughts flickering in them as she considered his words. The silence stretched around him again, just as heavy was before, but this time, when it broke, it didn’t break him.

“Okay.”

His lips parted, a dozen questions waiting to be asked, but as he took in her fragile but slightly relieved expression, he stopped himself. Wordlessly, Bellamy pulled her into a gentle hug, whispering  _thank you, we’ll do better, be better_  in her ear. Just before he released her, he felt her lips, which were pressed into the crook of his neck, hesitantly curve up into a smile.

His heart leapt, because it was a start.


End file.
